How I Spent My Spring Break...

WHY would I do THIS ↑ on spring break???

BECAUSE.....

I did this!!! ↓





















Yes, I sent my boys away!!! Can you believe it? What kind of a mother would send her babies away on Spring Break WITHOUT HER???



Only a very WICKED one that had tickets to THIS ↓

I confess I really felt bad sending them on that plane to Arizona to visit their cousins WITHOUT ME, but I had the Wicked tickets since August and at the time didn't realize it was going to be spring break. Taylor had been bugging me relentlessly to let them go for Easter and I finally caved, even though it would be the first Easter I had ever spent away from them! Wah!!! When we found out Dave's other sister was also going, we felt better about sending them since they would be on the same plane.

WICKED WAS WICKED!!!

I loved it so much!!!

We went with our friends The Ashdowns. Before the show we went to eat at one of our all time favorite restaurants ever...THE MANDARIN!

Oh soooo delish!!!

Creme' Brulee'
Mmm... DIVINE!

We had some other fun besides just painting, eating out and attending fantastic plays with great friends...we also met up with some of our oldest friends (well THEY are NOT old - just our friendship!) Mike and Sabrina. We have known them for 20 years from when we were still in medical school. They were in our apartment complex and we got to be good friends over the years. It had been way too long since we had seen them!






















It was lonely without the boys, but at least I had THIS GUY to keep me company!!!

Friday Memes

So sorry I'm late today! Better late than never though!
HAPPY EASTER ALL!!!

Food 4 Thought Friday

Feel free to play along for some yummy fun! I will post a new one each Thursday night for those that are on a different time zone. JOIN IN!!!


Food 4 Thought Friday ~ This week's questions

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Breakfast

How are you going to celebrate Easter this year?

Lunch
What is your favorite Easter tradition either currently or as a child?

Dinner
What is your favorite Easter treat?

Midnight Snack
What does Easter mean to you?

Recipe of the Week (instead of your recipe for life what is it just for the week?)

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MY ANSWERS!

Breakfast

How are you going to celebrate Easter this year? This is the very first Easter since my Motherdome that I will NOT celebrate it with all my boys. They are in Arizona visiting their cousins. We would have gone with them but we had (impossible to get) tickets to WICKED during the same time. I am missing them so much!!! But I am sure the Easter Bunny will find them somehow. ;o) Thankfully my oldest is home!!!

Lunch
What is your favorite Easter tradition either currently or as a child?
I have always loved coloring the Easter eggs, getting a new Easter dress, hunting for the eggs, and all those fun things, but my favorite thing is to chomp off the ears of a big chocolate bunny! Mmm...

Dinner
What is your favorite Easter treat?
I love the Cadbury Chocolate Eggs and Dove Chocolate Eggs. The Hershey ones aren't too shabby either!

Midnight Snack
What does Easter mean to you?

Easter signifies the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ and brings with it the hope that all will live again eternally with him someday if worthy. It also symbolizes new life and the fact that all will one day rise again through the resurrection. I am grateful to my Savior for all He did for me. Happy Easter all!

Recipe of the Week (instead of your recipe for life what is it just for the week?)
Be very careful who you trust....even real 'friends' sometimes betray you.

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1. Anonymous...is for cowards!

2. Happiness is a choice!

3. Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, "for wise men say it is the wisest course." - William Shakespeare

4. The smells, the warmth, seeing the grass again, and the beautiful flowers is what I look forward to most about Spring.

5. Who needs therapy when you have a blog and a supply of chocolate!

6. Reeses Mini Peanut Butter Cups MUST go into the Easter Basket!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to trying to not miss my boys too much who are in Arizona for Easter and painting their bedrooms tomorrow my plans include continuing to paint and Sunday, I want to try once again to not miss my boys too much on EASTER MORNING ! Wah!!! Then attend all my meetings and teach my Young Women girls, and of course eat lots of Easter chocolate!

♥FaMiLy FuN♥

We've had a great time with our extended families lately...
Here are some shots of the fun!!!
(I made them small to save space so you will have to click to enlarge)

At my niece Madi's baptism.

*Me with thee Blaine Jensen. ↓
*Boys and Chantel on the tramp. ↓
*Having fun with my parents. ↓
*Having even more fun with my boys. ↓

Game night at Dave's parent's house with the cousins...

Dave's sister Karen and fam came for a visit from Arizona. We crammed in lots of fun...
Going to lunch and the movie (Confessions of a Shop-a-holic - cute movie). Eating dinner at Maddox...

Fun at TOADS!

Go Carts, Laser Tag, Mini Golf, Arcades, etc...

I won Deal or No Deal and the tickets just kept coming non-stop!

Here are some shots of us at the arcade and mini-golfing. What a blast!

Family Night Bowling...with Dave's family.

Check out this PURPLE bowling ball!!

Bryce got the HIGH score for the week!!!

FUN ~ FUN!!!!



CABIN FEVER!

We went to Dave's parent's cabin for conference weekend and had a blast! There were four family's there altogether which made for some squishy but great fun!

Snowmobiling in Wyoming!

Look ma! NO coat!!! It was beautiful!

Lots and lots of FUN!!!

Rebounder...

Taylor's loooooong overdue basketball post...

Taylor played Freshman Basketball and had a great season even though he ended up injuring his ankle that took him out for a few games. We thought it was broke, but thankfully it was just tweaked! I loved going to all his games and I already MISS it ! Good thing track season is here!

*Happy they won their last home game! ↓

*Taylor with his coach.

*Tay with his Mom and with someone else's crazy mom!

This was their last home game.↓ The team got amazing support from the student body for a freshman team. In the first picture you can see them all waiting at the door until the buzzer so they can run out and congratulate the team.

Here we are at the end of the season awards banquet. ↓ We were actually fed STEAK in the high school cafeteria. Not bad either! However it WAS catered! :D

Taylor received the Mr. Hustle award!!! He had the most rebounds on the team for the season!

Good job Taylor!!! Great season!

Why I Should Be the Sego Lily Blogger

There are many things that I love in this world. Chocolate ranks right up there at the top of my list, clearly, as does a romantic, feel good movie (preferably with a large buttered popcorn and a crisp soda with ice).

And I love my husband and five sons, of course.

But there is one thing that I absolutely LOVE, but have not indulged myself in as much as I would like to. Until now. Hopefully...oh hopefully!

I love being pampered. I love to have my toes and feet spoiled rotten by someone else. I love to have my weary bod professionally massaged, exfoliated, oiled, and heat wrapped. Pampered. At one with my chi. In my happy place.

And now I have the chance to get my chi on and become the pamper queen of Utah! Yes, Sego Lily Day Spa is offering a year's supply of renewal to the mind, body, and spirit of the person chosen to be the Sego Lily Blogger! I can't think of a better contest to win!

It only took me one visit to their web page to see that I have been missing out on something that I indeed as a mother of five sons NEED desperately!

Picture this... alarm rings at 5:30 a.m., run to gym class by 6 a.m., run home to make breakfast for five ravenous males with voracious appetites, run some of aforementioned males to school, run home to literally get in my daily outdoor run, run home, run hot water on weary body, run vacuum while bending over with aching back to pick up numerous Lego's, air soft pellets, candy wrappers and dirty socks, run to store, run home, run dishwasher, run water in boy's tub to scrub while on hands and knees to scour stains from boy's commode (I have a PhD in cleaning boy commodes), run over in mind daily to do list and realize time has run out before time to run my own hot and luxurious bath.

Yes, my stress runneth over!

Now, I LOVE ALL this running and I wouldn't have it any other way, BUT I would love to be able to add a run to Sego Lily for a few tranquil moments here and there to the list!

When I read on Sego Lily's spa menu, "Our Bath Rituals will provide a precious refuge from life's daily stressors. Relax and rejuvenate mind, body and spirit in gentle, healing waters.", the mantra, "Sego Lily take me away...", kept repeating over and over in my mind...the same mind that so desperately needs renewing.

The mind that just last week told her husband her 12 year old wasn't sick but just being a wimp when he wanted to miss school - then two seconds later watched him throw up all over. And the body that NEEDS to run 3-5 miles in order for that body's spirit to feel "relaxed"? Spa treatments or pounding the pavement? Hmm...

Yes, I believe it's clear from my life in the testosterone zone that I desperately NEED to win this contest and renew!

Ahh....just saying that phrase "renew mind, body, and spirit" takes me to that happy place. I do believe it should be the 11th commandment.



That little word renew is full of promise and glorious expectations. Especially when you're feeling like your mind, body, and spirit have nothing in common with that last part of the word - new. How my old mind, body, and spirit could use a year's worth of renewing!



Did you hear me? I said A YEAR'S WORTH of luxurious, relaxing, rejuvenating spa treatments! For me! And for you my peeps, a year's worth of drool inducing blog posts as you watch my mind, body, and spirit fully renew...amazingly without chocolate or chic flicks involved.



I believe Sego Lily can be as life saving to me as it was to the pioneers! Sego Lily save me too...PLEASE!

What do you think my peeps? Do you think I deserve to win this incredible contest and rejuvenate in all my pampered-ness?

If you haven't already, check them out HERE!!!